One of the many things Mum taught me was to save up for things I wanted to buy. It's served me well and likely has something to do with a credit rating of 800+. Now, I'm not a top mathematician by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to me that the cash inflow needs to be greater than the outflow if you're going to survive for very long.
So it kind of irks me - well no, let me put that more honestly; it ticks me off no end to see governments violating this basic principle. Did the leaders' mamas not teach them anything? It frustrates me badly enough that I'm finally giving in to the urge to write a post on politics. Oh the horror. You can thank this AP article for getting my goat.
It seems to me that here in the US we have a pretty low tax rate. And while I don't like seeing how much gets yanked out of the pay cheque, there is a need for it. (Actually, I once heard Glenn Beck make an amusing comparison of government to Bernie Madoff, explaining that Madoff had to convince people to give him their money, whereas the government forces you.) But the US is currently running a national debt of $14.7 trillion - that's a lot of 0s, folks. If you really want an eye-opener, check out the US National Debt Clock. Have a look at the top left, then the bottom left. Social Security Liability is even greater than the National Debt.
The government clearly needs to pull more money out of the taxpayer if we're ever going to turn this around. But it's going to take a long time to undo this damage. Our children's children are still going to pay for the mistakes of our - and previous - generations. But - and this is a BIG BUT - if they're going to screw things down tighter, then they also need to be responsible with what we're giving them. Who's working for who anyhow? The last I knew, we (in theory) put them in office so they can represent us. There's a reason they're called civil servants or public servants. They're supposed to serve us, not the other way around.
I don't mind paying higher taxes IF government stops spending my money recklessly. I might as well get a pile of cash and burn it myself if they're not going to do their job properly. At least I would get a little warmth out of it this winter. And don't even get me started on those bogus incentive bonuses right now. I'm going to have to save that for another post.
1 comment:
I completely agree. I do mind paying the higher taxes if these people are not going to handle it properly. They have squandered way too much and they need to start doing their jobs of serving us and not just looking out for themselves.
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